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Friends of the Earth requests disclosure of relationship between former National Security Adviser and Keystone proponent

Posted Mar. 12, 2014 / Posted by: Ben Schreiber

Friends of the Earth is asking for a clarification of relationships between the former United States National Security Adviser and proponents of the Keystone XL pipeline.

On Thursday, March 13, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a hearing entitled "Keystone XL and the National Interest Determination." The Committee has invited distinguished guests to discuss the why the pipeline shouldn’t be constructed, including climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, who retired from NASA to join the Columbia University Earth Institute, and president of the Sierra Club Michael Brune.

The panel also includes pipeline proponents Karen Alderman Harbert, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, and retired General James L. Jones of the U.S. Marine Corps. The hearing lists General Jones under his professional title, President of Jones Group International, but it has been reported that Jones is also a paid adviser to the American Petroleum Institute, a chief proponent of Keystone.

If Jones truly serves as an adviser to API, it is important that he discloses the interests he represents. That is why Friends of the Earth’s President Erich Pica wrote Jones a letter today asking him to name any of his employers who might have vested interests in approving the pipeline. Click here to read the letter to General Jones.